Was seeing a show on Food Food channel the other day and came across this recipe by Harpal Singh Sokhi. Was intrigued because he mixed Indian spices in a Chinese dish. Had to try it and have to say it turned out to be perfect for the Indian palate.I like the flavor and crunchiness the till seeds gives to this dish. Kids love to eat the crispy fried chicken before adding it to the gravy and hence remember to reserve some for them.Here is my recipe for this dish.

Ingredients

Chicken breasts - 500 gms

Onions (medium) -2 , cubed

Red Capsicum -1/2 piece, cubed

Yellow Capsicum - 1/2 piece, cubed

Sesame seeds - 4 tsp

Ginger - 1 inch piece, finely chopped

Garlic - 5-7 cloves, finely chopped

Green chillies -2 , finely chopped

2 tsp chicken masala - I used Kitchen King masala; you can use 1 tsp of garam masala instead

Was in a mood today for some south Indian flavors of chicken. As was searching online came across this simple and quick recipe Curry Leaf and pepper Chicken recipe from my favorite chef - Sanjay Thumma.The best part about this dish is that it doesnt require any fine chopping and dicing and hence saves a lot of time. Once ready, I am sure you are going to love the aroma of Curry leaves and pepper that fills the house :)Here is my recipe for Curry Leaf and Pepper Chicken

This dish is like the western concept of Sunday Roast for my family. We grew up eating this tasty chicken curry prepared with all the traditional Konkani spices on most Sundays, accompanied by Sol Kadi and Fish Fry . Though chicken is not part of our staple diet, somehow this curry is prepared in this same way in most Konkani households. I always wonder how and when this dish entered into our traditional recipes.This dish has a very strong aroma and I somehow associate the aroma of this dish with Sunday afternoons :)Here is my mom's recipe perfected over the years. This dish has all the ingredients that go well with chicken and I have never gone wrong with this one.

Ingredients

Chicken - 1 kg

4 medium Sized Onions - finely chopped

Tomato - 2 finely chopped

Coriander leaves -1 bunch

Ginger-garlic paste 2 tea spn

Sun flower Oil

Ghee

Salt

Brown Masala

Pepper 7-8

Cloves 4

Cinnamon - 2 inch

Shahi jeera - 1 tsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Cardamom (Elaichi) - 1

Red chillies (Bedgi)- 7-8

Poppy Seeds(Khus Khus) 1 tsp

Fennel seeds (Saunf)- 1 tsp

Coconut - 1 cup

4-5 cloves of garlic

pinch of haldi

Tamarind - lemon sized ball

For the Green Paste

1 cup of coriander leaves with stalk

handful of mint leaves

2-3 green chillies

1 inch ginger piece

5-6 cloves of garlic

Method

Make a fine paste by grinding together roughly chopped ingredients listed under for the green paste.

Take a pan and dry roast all the ingredients under Red Masala except the tamarind. Take care not to burn the spices. When the spices leave out a good aroma, cool it and then grind it to fine paste with tamarind and water. Keep this red masala aside.

Clean and Marinate 1 kg chicken with green paste and salt for atleast an hour before cooking

Take a pressure cooker and add 1 tsp sunflower oil and 1 tsp to it. When the oil is hot, add the finely chopped onions and saute it till brown.

Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and saute it till mushy.

Add the marinated chicken to the cooker and mix well.Add 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook it for 1 whistle and then simmer on low for another 10 mins. Be careful here to not overcook the chicken. If you are unsure about using a pressure cooker, you can just cover and cook it till the chicken is almost (80%) cooked.

Now add the brown masala to the chicken and cook it for good boil. You can add some dried Sol for additional color and sourness.

Cook it for 10 more mins on a slow flame.Adjust the salt and water according to taste.

Vahrehvah.com is one of my favorite recipe sites. The videos are pretty good and every dish I have cooked from this site has turned out to be good.Today I was in a mood to cook Mutton in a different way and went to the site. Came across this recipe and decided to make it. The output was a really spicy gravy which we all licked off from our plates.

Method

Wash and drain 500 gms of mutton (I used boneless but you can use mutton with bone)

Take 3 tsp ghee/oil in a pressure cooker and fry the mutton in it for 5- 10 mins till it is turns brown in color.

In the meantime prepare the kadai masala. For this take 3-4 red chillies, 1 tsp pepper corns, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds in a pan and dry roast it till a sweet smell emanates from this. Add a 1 tsp of kasoori methi and dry roast for a minute and let the mixture cool in the pan.

Grind the masala with a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste.

When the pressure is off open the pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp dahi and 2 tsp of kadai masala. You can add more masala if you want the gravy to be spicy

We have a lot of Tulu friends and this is one dish I love in their cuisine. Very elaborate dish but is so good that I dont mind spending the extra time in kitchen to cook it.Cooked it recently for one special set of friends who love Mangalorean cuisine.

Method

Clean and cut 1 kg chicken pieces into cube sized pieces along with the bone and keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, take 2 tbsp oil and heat. When hot, add 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp jeera seeds and when they splutter add 5/6 sprigs of curry leaves. The curry leaves give a distinct flavor to this dish and hence feel free to go heavy on them

Now after sauteeing it for 2-3 mins, add 1 finely chopped onion and some salt. Saute the onion till it is pinkish in color.

Now add the chicken and saute it well.

As the chicken is cooking, dry roast 1 tsp coriander seeds, 7-8 dried red chillies, 10 pepper corns, 5-6 garlic pods, 1 inch dalchini, 1/2 tsp jeera, 4-5 cloves, 1/2 tsp khus khus(poppy seeds) with 2 tsp of onion and 2 tsp of grated coconut till the aroma of the spices fills up your kitchen. Let this cook for some time and then grind it to a coarse paste in the grinder.

Add this to the chicken, mix well and pressure cook it for 1 whistle. Pressure cooking though not the best way to cook meat, is the easiest and hence I took this option. You can just cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15-20 mins till chicken is cooked. Adjust the water according to the consistency you want. I like it to have some gravy so that it goes well with chapatis.

Now again dry roast, 1 cup grated coconut, pinch of haldi and 5-6 pods of garlic and 1/2 tsp jeera till coconut is slightly brown. Grind this to a coarse paste

Add it to the chicken when chicken is almost done. Mix well and cook for 3-4 mins with lid on. You can add some more curry leaves for additional flavors.

Chicken Vindaloo is a Goan dish which proudly sits on the menus of many famous Indian restaurants abroad, next to the Indian Chicken curry. I have been wanting to cook this dish for long. Recently saw this in dish being featured again in one of my favorite shows "Twist of Taste - Coastal curries" by Vikas Khanna and that spurred me to find the best recipe online and cook it.

Just finished cooking this dish and must say its a beautiful dish. The tanginess of the vinegar dominates; followed by the sweetness from the caramalised onions and jaggery and the spiciness of the chillies.

History has it that this is a Portuguese dish which means Wine, Garlic and Pork (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindaloo). The original dish has no "aloo" or potatoes but I found many recipes online with potatoes. Decided to cook mine without potatoes or tomatoes. So this recipe has just the goodness of chicken with onions, vinegar and spices.

Marinate 750 gms of chicken with the spice mixture, salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 4 tbsp white vinegar. Add 1 tsp of grated jaggery and mix well. Let it rest on the kitchen counter for 3-4 hours. You can also leave the marinade overnight.

Now take a pan and add 2 tbsp ghee to it. Once the ghee is hot, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds.

When the seeds start spluttering, add 3-4 cloves. Now add 3 finely chopped medium sized onions. Add some salt and start sweating the onion till it is brown. finely grate 3-4 garlic pods and another 1/2 inch ginger into the pan and saute for another minute

Now add the marinated chicken and saute it for 7-8 mins.

Add 2 cups of water and let it cook with lid on for 30 mins on a low flame. Keep stirring occasionally. When the chicken is cooked, open the lid and cook for another 10 mins for the water to evaporate

You will be left with a fine thick gravy. Garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with rotis or rice.

"Singapore Chilli crabs" was the best dish I tasted in Singapore. It is called the unofficial national dish of Singapore. Recently had a craving for this dish and I went looking for crab here in Hyderabad. We dont get the kind of meaty crabs here but then had to make do with what we get here.Looked online for Singapore Chilli crab recipes and came up with this one which is a mish mash of the different elements from recipes found onlineHere is how the original dish looked

and this is how my dish looked

Method

Clean and scrub 3 crabs and crack the legs and claws with a spoon so that the masala can seep in. Keep aside

Clean and remove the skin of 2 onions and pulse it with 5-6 red chillies to a coarse paste

Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry the onion chilli paste till the raw smell of the onions goes off. I grated in 1 inch of ginger and 5-6 garlic pods too into this onion paste and fried it well till cooked.

Add paste of 2 tomatoes along with 1 tbsp tomato puree or ketchup and saute in the onion mixture. Bring it to a boil.

Take 2 tsbp olive oil in a pan and heat it. When hot, deep fry 10 dried red chillies and keep aside. In the same oil deep fry 1 inch ginger which is cut into long thin slices and keep aside. Fry handful of peanuts and keep aside

In the same oil, sear the chicken in batches along with the marinade till they are almost cooked.

Decided to cook some boneless chicken for dinner...thought that I should cook something low fat. Decided to use Dahi for the gravy and came up with this dish. Pretty simple dish to cook - The flavors of the dahi, capsicum and kasoori methi go very well in making this a very tasty dish.Method

I chanced upon this recipe while browsing for newer Mutton side dishes. "Chukka" means dry gravy in Tamil, and this apparently is a very famous Chettinad dish. The south indian flavors of curry leaves and the spices gives an added taste to the mutton! A must try for all mutton lovers :)

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Method1. Cut 500 gms of boneless mutton (lamb)pieces into small 1 inch pieces. Marinate with salt, pinch of turmeric, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and 1 tsp red chilli powder for atleast 1 hour. 2. Pressure cook the marinated mutton for 5-6 whistles along with water to just cover the pieces. Remove from heat and keep aside to cook before opening the pressure cooker. 3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, saute 5-6 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon and 1 bay leaf. Add 2 sprigs of curry leaves and saute4. Now add 1 finely chopped onion and saute. Add 5-6 cloves of finely chopped garlic. When the onion is translucent, add 2 chopped tomatoes and saute it till cooked. Add 1 tsp coriander powder at this point.You can also add a pinch of garam masala at the end to increase the balance towards the spices.

5. Add boiled mutton along with the water used in cooking, mix well with the masala and cook without the lid till the water evaporates. I kept it a little wet so that it can be eaten with rice as well. 6.Adjust the salt depending on the taste. Serve hot as a side dish with chappatis or rice.

Last week, I had lunch with some colleagues at Rayalseema Ruchulu - one of my favorite Andhra cuisine restaurant. We ordered Chicken curry the Seema style and the gravy was spicy and extremely tasty. Wanted to try the recipe and was searching online yesterday. Surprisingly found out that the restaurant themselves have put up a few recipes online. Cooked this dish and it did not even take me a total of 30 mins of cooking time, chopping included. Highly recommended for everyone who loves South Indian flavours.Method1. Marinate 1/2 kg chicken with 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and 1 tsp chilli powder for atleast an hour before cooking. I added 2 tsp curd to the marinade though this was not part of the recipe.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. When hot, add 1 sprig of curry leaves and fry them till they are crisp. Now add 2 medium onions finely chopped and fry them till they are brown in color.3. Add marinated chicken pieces and fry until chicken looses its pink colour. Add 1 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder and fry the same. You can give the chilli powder a miss if you dont like your gravy too spicy.4. Add 1 cup water and bring to boil. Cook the chicken pieces for another 15 mins on slow flame with lid covered or till its cooked. Keep stirring all the while. Adjust the water according to the consistency you want.5. Adjust the salt if needed. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve

Came across this interesting recipe on a youtube video last Sunday and decided to cook it. This is probably a Hyderabadi dish because the fried onion, curd and mint combination is something I see a lot in Hyderabadi cuisine.I am glad I cooked this dish because not only was it very easy, but also the richness of the dish makes it a very good dish to cook when you have guests over.

Method1. Take a non stick pan and add 1 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add 2 medium sized onion juliennes and saute till brown.2. When onions are brown, add 2 tsp of ginger garlic paste and saute. Add handful of curry leaves and saute. Add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, pinch of turmeric, salt and saute till the spices are well cooked. Sprinkle some water if the spices are getting charred.3. Add 1/2 kg chicken and mix well. Saute for 3-4 mins. Add 1 cup of yogurt to the chicken and mix well.4. Make a fine paste of 1 cup of coriander, 1/2 cup of mint, 3-4 green chillies and 1 tbsp of grated coconut with little water. Add this to the chicken and mix it well.5. Add 1 cup of water and cover and cook for 20 mins or till the chicken is well cooked6. Add cream if you want a richer gravy and a pinch of garam masala before taking it off from the stoveServe hot with chappatis.

The usual chicken gravy recipe with onion and tomato paste. Very easy to cook, this spicy chicken gravy is ready in less than 45 mins.. You can hardly go wrong with this recipe.

Method

Clean and chop about 500 gms of boneless chicken. Add salt and set aside.

Roughly chop 3 medium sized onions. Blend in a mixie with about 7-8 pods of garlic and 1 inch ginger till you get a fine paste and keep aside. Blend 2 tomatoes in the same mixie and keep aside

Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 inch cinnamon, 5-6 cloves, 2 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp chilli powder, 1 cardamom and blend in the mixie to a coarse powder. You can add some salt if you need to add some volume to blend.

In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Add the coarse masala powder and saute till you can smell the aroma of the spices. Now add the the onion paste and saute till golden brown. Since the onion was blended raw, you need to ensure that you saute for a longer while till the raw smell of onions is gone.

Add the tomato paste and some turmeric and again saute till the tomatoes are cooked. Add additional chilli powder if you want a spicy gravy.

Add chicken and coat it with sauce. Add 2 cups of water and mix well. Now cover with a lid and let the chicken cook for 15-20 mins on a slow flame. Keep stirring in between and cook till chicken is tender.

Adjust the salt. Add 1 tsp of garam masala powder. Garnish with coriander leaves. Squeeze some lemon juice on the gravy and serve with rotis.

I had seen this episode of Chak Le India - Kachcha Raasta long back and had noted down the recipe. I like Aditya Bal's style of cooking where I see him char the aromatics regularly. This reduces cooking time and also gives a good consistency to the gravy.Wanted to cook something quickly today and hence decided to try this recipe. The dish was amazingly tasty and ready in less than a hours time.

Method1. Take 250 gms of chicken, clean and keep aside. I used boneless chicken but you can use one with bones too. Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp oil and salt and keep aside2. Char the aromatics a la Aditya Bal - 2 medium sized onions cut into cubes, 5-6 garlic pods, 1 inch ginger, 2-3 green chillies and 1 bunch of chopped coriander leaves and stalks. Saute this well till the onions are slightly browned and the raw taste of the aromatics is gone. Keep aside3. Now dry roast the 7-8 cloves, 2-3 cardamom pods, 7-8 black peppercorns, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 inch of cinnamon for 2 mins.4. Grind the dry roasted spices to a nice powder. Add the charred aromatics and again grind to a fine paste. Aditya Bal generally uses a mortar and pestle to grind the spices, but I used the mixer grinder to save on time. Add the paste to the marinated chicken. Add 3 tbsp curd to the chicken and mix well and keep aside.

5. Take a pan and add 2 tsp oil. Add 2-3 green cardamoms and saute. Add a handful of raisins and saute again. Now add the marinated chicken and mix well. I added 1 cup of water but you can add water according to your preference. Adjust the salt.

I am a fan of spinach and hence decided to make Mutton with spinach today. Most of the recipes of Saagwaala Mutton and other spinach mutton use Spinach Puree but I thought of adding finely chopped spinach instead. The dish was absolutely tasty! Highly recommended

Method1. Blend 1 cup coriander leaves, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 1 inch ginger, handful of mint leaves and 2 green chillies in a mixer. Add salt and marinate 1/2 kg mutton for at least an hour before cooking.2. Take 1 tsp ghee and 1 tsp oil in a pressure cooker. When hot, add 1 bay leaf,3-4 cloves, 1 inch cinammon, 1 cardamom, 1 tsp cumin seeds and saute till the cumin splutters. Add 1 big onion finely chopped and saute till pink.3. Add 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped and saute till mushy. Add the mutton and saute for some time till the raw taste of ginger garlic goes away. Now add 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker, close the lid, add the weight and cook for 4-5 whistles.4. Remove the lid when the pressure is off and add 2 cups of finely chopped spinach and 1 tsp kasoori methi and cook till the spinach is well cooked.Serve hot with chappatis. You can add more water in case you need a gravy to go with rice.

What I love the most about cooking is that it lets you be creative in your day to day life. You experiment with your spices and you sometimes have a totally new taste. Last week I cooked this mutton curry with no particular recipe in my mind - just mixed spices that I love and created this dish :)

Method

1.Heat 2 tsp oil and 1 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Add 1 large onion finely chopped and saute till its brown. Add 1 inch ginger, 7-8 pods of garlic, 1 inch cinnamon, 5-6 black pepper, 2-3 cloves, 2 elaichi, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and saute for 2 mins. Grind the whole mixture in grinder to a coarse paste.2. Again add 1 tsp oil in the same pan and add 1 bay leaf. Add the above mixture and saute for 2 mins. Add 2 small tomatoes finely chopped and cook it till tomatoes soften. Add 500 gms of mutton, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp red chilli powder (or more according to your taste) , water and pressure cook for a good 5-6 whistles. I added some fresh mint leaves for added taste.3. Open the pressure cooker after the steam is out and adjust the salt. Add the juice of half a lemon and garnish with coriander leaves.

This is originally a Pakistani recipe. I like the tomato flavor in this dish which makes it different from other chicken dishes. In restaurants, they usually also add capsicum, but I gave it a miss as I am not a big fan of capsicums :)

A simple and yummy recipe which my grandmother taught me. My granny who is 78 loves to cook anything new (and of course within the cuisine that suits her) that she reads or sees on TV. Whenever we call her, she always has some or the other new recipe to tell us about. She likes to share new recipes which she tried out and liked. I hope I am able to be half as enthu as her when I am old :) So this is one such tried and tested recipe that she had read in a newspaper.

Method1. Clean and de-vein the prawns. Keep the tail on - it gives a crunchier taste to the dish.2. Marinate the prawns with red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, ginger garlic paste for at least half an hour3. Add one egg white to the marinated prawns.4. Heat refined oil for deep frying. Roll the prawns in cornflour and deep fry on medium flame till crispy brown. Drain on absorbent paper.

P.S. I was so hungry that I forgot to take pics after frying these. We started our lunch and then when a few were remaining, it struck me that I should take a pic..thats why this pic with a so few prawns...will replace the pic next time I cook this again!!

This is a recipe shared by a cousin of mine. I like the fresh taste of mint and lemon in this dish.This dish does not require a lot of oil as the chicken is cooked in steam and hence is healthier than other deep fried starters.

3. Add 2 medium size onions cut into cubes and saute for a minute4. Add the marinated chicken and saute. Sprinkle some water. Cover it and let it cook in the steam on a low flame till almost done. 5. Grind 1/2 cup mint with 1/2 cup of coriander leaves to a coarse paste

6. Add it to the chicken once chicken is 80-90% cooked. Add 2 tsp garam masala powder and saute for 5 mins. Sprinkle some crushed Kasoori Methi7. Adjust the salt, squeeze 1 lemon juice and serve hot as a starter or a side dish with the main course.